


Hey baby, I think I want to marry you

by Monstrous_Moonshine



Series: Uniforms [2]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Boys In Love, Established Relationship, Fire Fam - Freeform, M/M, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 19:53:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29906220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Monstrous_Moonshine/pseuds/Monstrous_Moonshine
Summary: Carlos has decided it’s time to ask TK to marry him.  He asks Marjan and the other 126 family for help.  What could go wrong??Title taken from Bruno Mars...
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Series: Uniforms [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2186004
Kudos: 95





	Hey baby, I think I want to marry you

**Author's Note:**

> A continuation of my Uniform fic for Jessica. I hope you like!

They had been together for just over three years when Carlos decided it was finally time. He was going to propose to TK. It had been something that had been on his mind for a while, to be honest, TK completed him, was his missing puzzle piece, and he didn’t want to spend his life with anyone else other than him. They’d talked about it, when they’d moved in together, when Carlos had turned 30, but they'd never actually gone any further than discussions and ideas. But now, three years down the line, it felt right. They’d been through lots together, TK’s parent issues, Carlos’ parent issues that even now weren’t really sorted fully, TK deciding to become a full time paramedic, then getting a promotion and hating it so much because he didn’t actually get to save lives anymore and so deciding to drop back down to just a paramedic, Carlos being made chief sergeant of his division, and even though it had been hard at times they’d come out stronger at the end. He couldn’t imagine his life without TK by his side and he wanted to make the proposal as special as he could.

He thought and thought about it for a while before one day deciding that the most special place to propose was where they’d had most of their magical, emotional moments. He popped into the 126 station one day after his shift, waiting until TK was in the gym with Paul and Mateo and then he went to sit in the kitchen with Marjan. He knew he’d need their help commandeering the entire station and he had to ask Owen too, but he was so excited he had to tell her straight away. “I’m going to propose to TK,” he said, leaning in close so only she could hear. “I want to do it here, at the station. Do you think you guys could help me plan it?”

Marjan spat out half the coffee she was drinking as she spluttered. “Too hot, sorry,” she said, blowing on her fingers as she gazed at him. “Propose to TK, eh? That’ll be so romantic, doing it here, where he works and you’ve snuck in so many times I can’t keep count any more, gazing into each other’s eyes, TK making jokes about your uniform and handcuffs whilst he sneaks you into his bunk… but isn’t the kitchen a bit small?”

Carlos rolled his eyes. “I was thinking in the garden, Marjan,” he pointed out dryly and she grinned at him.

“Garden sounds much better, Carlos. Of course we’ll help. Can’t have you proposing without us being there, after all. I’ll let the rest of the rabble know?”

“But not TK, it’s a surprise,” Carlos begged.

“Trust me,” Marjan said. “The secret is safe with me. TK who?”

The following day, Carlos was invited to the station by a very excited Marjan. When he suggested that maybe turning up without TK asking him would be suspicious she just cackled at him and told him to be brave. It was a long shift, with him being nervous about how things would go later on, but Carlos didn’t need to worry as when he got there, Marjan met him and dragged him into the kitchen. “TK’s holed up in his dad’s office and I’ve asked Nancy to keep an eye on him,” she said as she pulled him in and sat him down opposite the rest of the 126 family. “I thought we could have the first official TP meeting.”

“TP meeting?” Mateo huffed, arms folded as he stared at Marjan.

“TK’s proposal?” she said as she sat down as well, ignoring the laughter from the rest of the firefighters and Carlos’ bemused look.

“That’s a rubbish name, Marj,” Paul said.

“Well, you come up with something then,” she snapped at him and then turned a full, 100 watt smile onto Carlos. “So tell us what ideas you’ve got and we’ll all pitch in.”

“I want this to be special,” Carlos started to say, “because TK deserves it.” He was almost derailed by the groans and pretend vomiting noises of the rest of the crew, except Marjan who was staring at him like he was the only thing worth listening to in the room. “I want him to remember it forever. So I thought here, in the place that means so much to both of us, where it’s special for both of us, would be perfect.”

“Here, in the kitchen?” Mateo said, looking around him in disgust. “It’s small, it smells and no one never does the washing up…”

“Don’t be stupid,” Judd said, hitting Mateo around the head. “He said it had to be special. He means that cupboard we found them having sex in when we were trying to tidy up the uniform room.”

“Or the toilets, you know, where the Capt walked in and found TK on his knees,” Paul added.

‘Or on Tommy’s desk,” Judd put in. “We could dress it up like it’s Christmas again Carlos, if you want to really recreate the scene.”

“Or….” Mateo began to speak but Marjan cut him off, thankfully sparing Carlos from getting any more embarrassed than he already was.

“He means in the garden, you group of cretins!” she bit out as she scowled at them all. “Just ignore them, Carlos. Go on, carry on.”

“I want to do it on our anniversary,” he said, a bit faintly, “so that will be in three weeks time. Gives me a bit of time to panic and a bit of time to plan.”

“We’ll need to sort out music, flowers, food, decorations,” Marjan listed and Carlos was struck dumb.

“I don’t know, Marj,” he started, but she cut him off.

“You want it to be special, right? Let us all help. TK’ll never forget it.”

“Or he’ll be so embarrassed he’ll run a mile,” Judd said with a smug smile and Carlos privately thought that he was probably more on the ball than Marjan.

She glared at him and hit him with a spatula from the draining board. “Shut up, you,” she said. “How would you know what TK wants? You don’t have a romantic bone in your body, unlike Carlos.”

“Romantic bone?” Paul asked. “Is that what TK’s calling it now?”

Luckily for Carlos, they were cut off short by Nancy running back into the kitchen. “He’s on his way down,” she hissed as she slid into a chair and they all pulled out newspapers and a pack of cards like that was what they had been doing all along, leaving Carlos sitting in shock. 

“I’ll text about the next committee meeting,” Marjan whispered and when TK came into the kitchen for a cup of lemonade, they were all sitting innocently like butter wouldn’t melt in their mouths. 

TK took one look at them with his eyes narrowed and then his face melted as he spotted Carlos. “Hi, baby,” he said happily, before doing a double take and pulling Carlos out of the room, sliding his hands around his neck the minute they were away from prying gazes. “Are you OK?” he asked as he stood on his tiptoes and pressed a sweet kiss to Carlos’ lips. “They look like they’re up to trouble.”

“They’re just reminding me of all the places we’ve been caught having sex whilst in the station,” Carlos admitted, after a pause to work out just what he could get away with saying without giving too much away.

TK laughed at that. “Want to add more places to it, babe? I was thinking of the back of the engine….”

“Ty!” Carlos gasped and hid his hot face as TK laughed even harder, pinching his cheek fondly.

“Maybe later, sweetheart,” he promised as he let Carlos go.

They did eventually rejoin the rest of the crew and spent a few happy hours together before the alarms sounded and Carlos knew he’d have to leave. He pressed a kiss and a whispered “keep safe” against TK’s lips but before he could leave, Marjan grabbed hold of him and pulled him into a little nook away from the others. “Team meeting on the next day we all have off together,” she whispered conspiratorially, “at my house. I’ll set up a secret group chat and put the time on there.”

Carlos was regretting asking her for her help at this moment in time to be honest, maybe he should have just kept it all to himself even if the nerves had driven him crazy. “How am I going to explain to TK that I’m meeting you and he can’t come?” he asked.

“TK’s got an appointment he needs to go to with his parents in the afternoon when we're next off, both TK and Owen mentioned it to Judd. How do you not know, you live with TK after all!” Marjan said, exasperated.

“Oh, yeah,” Carlos admitted, thinking about it, TK had put something in their calendar on their kitchen wall for the next off shift pattern, “you’re right.”

Marjan rolled her eyes. “Of course, like that was ever in doubt. I’ll set up jobs for everyone and we can start to plan properly,” she gushed, “it’ll be fab, Carlos, amazing!”

As she walked off, Carlos was left standing and staring in incredulous wonder, sure that Marjan was actually more excited about the whole idea than even he was.

They met up at Marjan’s flat, the entire 126 team and Grace, but not TK, and when he got there Carlos was mortified to see that Marjan had made little cakes with a picture of him and TK on the top of them. She set them on the table proudly and Carlos could barely look up due to the sniggers of the others.

“Right,” she said smartly, sitting herself down and pulling forward a sparkly pink notebook. “Let's crack on with operation TP.”

“TOP,” Paul interjected and they all stopped and stared at him. “What? It’s a better name than TP and it stands for TK’s Outrageous Proposal which it will be if Marjan has anything to do with it.”

Judd was sniggering and Carlos was sure he heard him whisper under his breath, “I bet that’s the position TK likes the best anyway....” but he decided to ignore anything that wasn’t directly related to the proposal.

“Fine, fine,” Marjan huffed, “well call it operation TOP then, Paul. I guess it doesn’t really matter as long as we’ve got it all planned out. Right then, Carlos, shall I tell you what I’ve sorted out and you can add in anything more you want?”

Carlos was still a little bit shell shocked, looking at Paul’s sympathetic smile, but he nodded wordlessly and Marjan beamed.

“Right, flowers,” she asked and Nancy held her hand up.

“I found out TK’s favourite flowers are carnations,” she said. “Any colour but he also likes roses, pink and red.”

Marjan made a pleased sound and jotted this down in her notebook. “What about you, Carlos,” she asked casually. “What’s your favourite flowers too, we may as well get both of them sorted at the same time.”

“I like tulips,” Carlos said in a bit of a daze. “And roses, too, of course. How did you find out TK’s favourite flower, Nancy?”

“I asked him,” Nancy said, as she reached over, snagged a cake and ate TK’s head clean off. “Told him I had a crush on someone secret at the station and needed advice on what flowers to buy him. He’s so gullible, didn’t even think of why I’d ask him and not someone else who actually has taste.”

Marjan wrote both things in her notebook then flipped over a page. “Music, Judd,” she said.

“I have started a playlist, because Judd had no idea what a playlist even was ,” Grace said instead, “I’ve been trying to find out what music TK likes the most, but it’s taking a bit longer than I thought. It’ll be done by next week.”

“Brill,” Marjan said, tongue sticking out as she added this into her book. “Have you asked Carlos about his favourite bands and songs?”

“No, not yet,” Judd said, “cos he’s right here, I was going to ask him now.”

“It’s ok, he can just add it into my book later on,” Marjan sighed, rolling her eyes at Judd. “Right, decorations. Mateo?”

“I’ve got the streamers sorted in purple and yellow, cos that’s his favourite basketball team,” Mateo said. “And lots of confetti and I thought maybe an ice sculpture too?”

Carlos made a strangled sound at that. “I wanted something more classy,” he said, ignoring the wide eyed puppy dog stare leveled at him. “Like fairy lights, candles, photos…”

“Well,” Mateo huffed, “I guess that could be ok if that’s what you really want, shall I cancel the red and black streamers too then?”

“Food, Grace,” Lola said quickly, trying to divert the two of them from any argument and Grace smiled and held out her phone. 

“Look, cupcakes with hearts on them. How cute. I can make them. And some biscuits with the same decorations, what do you think, Carlos?”

Carlos groaned and hid his head in his hands. “aren’t they a bit too much,” he tried to suggest. “And can you bake them, Grace?”

“Not me, Judd,” Grace smiles. “He wants to do it for his little brother, right, babe?”

“Yeah, I’ve never done it before, but how hard can it be, right?” Judd shrugged.

Carlos just stared at him in bewilderment as he beamed at him and he had to change the subject before he said something he'd later regret. “And what about you and Paul, Marj?” he decided to ask. “What are you doing, riding into the station on a horse, dressed as a knight in shining armour to rescue TK or something?”

“No, don’t be silly,” Marjan said absently. “Paul is distracting TK and then bringing him along and I’m organising it all. Oh, and sorting out what his ring size is for you.”

“How are you planning on distracting TK?” Carlos asked Paul, a little breathless because Paul was supposed to be the sensible one.

“I’m going to tell him I’m having girl troubles. Maybe cry a little, scream a little, break things… get him so concerned I’m all he can think about,” Paul said with such a broad grin that Carlos can’t believe what’s happening.

“You’re all crazy,” he said, shaking his head.

TK got home after the meeting from whatever he’d been doing with his parents and found Carlos still trying to get his head around what had happened that day, sitting silently on the couch and staring into space. He shrugged off his jacket and collapsed next to Carlos on the sofa in one of his tight, lovely shirts and Carlos was reminded of exactly why he wanted to marry him. “You tired?” he asked gently as TK cuddled into his side and he let his fingers card through his hair.

TK nestled in like a cat, hand on Carlos’ thigh and he pushed into the hand in his hair. “I missed you,” he said. “My parents drive me crazy. It’s not the same as when you’re there to help distract me.”

“I’m here now,” Carlos shrugged and then laughed as TK sat up, over his lap, eyes alight.

“Well, yes, you are,” he said, biting his lip and he dragged Carlos down into a hot kiss

There was something that Carlos knew he had to do. Something that made him nervous, more nervous than anything, but he had no choice. Particularly since every other person in the 126 knew now about his plan. He had to speak to Owen, ask if he was ok for him to marry his son. He knew it was old fashioned, asking a parent for their acceptance, but Carlos had been brought up traditionally and he wanted to do this, to show exactly how important TK was to him.

He waited until a day when TK wasn’t on shift before making his way to the station on his lunch break and slowly climbing the stairs to Captain Strand’s office. Owen was inside when he knocked and waved him in happily. “Good afternoon, Carlos,” he said, raising an eyebrow as Carlos sat opposite him, hands twisting nervously in his lap. “Is everything ok?”

He leant forward and took a long drink of his coffee just as Carlos managed to blurt it out. “I’d like to ask TK to marry me, is that ok?”

Owen choked, spitting his mouthful of coffee out over the table, just like Marjan had done a few days earlier. But Carlos was more worried about the father of his hopefully soon to be fiancée and he was on his feet, patting Owen on his back before he could think twice.

“Marry you?” Owen asked when things were calmer. “You. Want to ask my son. To marry you?”

“Yes…” Carlos started, maybe he had this whole thing wrong and Owen didn’t actually think he was a good match for TK, despite everything else saying he approved. “I love him so much. I can’t imagine my life without him. And I want him to be happy forever. But if you….”

“No, no…” Owen cut him off. His eyes were soft as he gazed at Carlos, a small smile on his lips. “I couldn’t be happier with you in the family. Just a shock, I guess, I wasn’t expecting that, I’m sorry. But I know he loves you too, so ask him. You know he’ll say yes, right?”

“I hope so.”

“And then you can cook for us every Sunday! Oh, this will be great!” Owen grinned. “I’ll get a schedule sorted, shall I?”

Carlos managed to leave 30 minutes later, stunned and shocked into silence. Maybe Owen was going to be the father in law from hell. 

  
  
  


The following time they were both off shift together found Marjan grabbing Carlos for ring shopping. She’d managed to find out TK’s ring size during their shifts and she convinced Carlos to tell TK she needed help with picking out some cooking utensils. “Why will TK believe you need me to go shopping with you for that?” he grouched but she was resolute. TK had just laughed and kissed his cheek. 

“I’m glad you and Marj get on so well,” he’d said. “Just don’t let her make you buy any more stuff for our kitchen.”

Nancy had decided to come as well and so the three of them drove to the mall in south Austin. They went for lunch first whilst Marjan grabbed her damn notebook out of her bag. He could see that she’d printed TOP on the front, Nancy still giggling madly and hiding her face behind her hand when she saw it too. “Ring, ring, ring,” Marjan murmured as she flicked through. “So, budget?” 

Carlos shrugged, “I just want the perfect ring,” he said, “I’ve been saving for ages so money will be no issue. I’ll know it when I see it.”

“That’s not much use,” Marjan grumbled. “But it is romantic, I guess, so I’ll let you have it.”

“What are you going to call yourselves when you get married?” Nancy asked. “Strand? Reyes? Reyes-Strand? Or what about my personal favourite, Styes?”

Carlos choked on a mouthful of his coffee. “He’s gotta say yes first before we can even think about names.”

“Oh, he’ll say yes, that boy is so smitten,” Nancy said with a roll of her eyes. “He can’t keep his hands off you. Trust me, we all know that.”

Carlos grinned, his cheeks heating up yet again as he looked down at his sandwich. “Thanks,” he said softly. “But Styes? Really, Nance!”

They spent the afternoon walking around the jewellery shops in the mall, looking in all the windows. Carlos couldn’t tell them what he was looking for but he knew he’d know when he saw it. It took until the penultimate shop when he gazed into the window and saw the perfect ring. It was a small band, rose gold in the twist of a Möbius band with a single green emerald in the centre, green that reminded him of TK’s eyes, the Möbius twist representing forever, wide enough for an inscription but not too flashy. It was TK through and through and he just stood and breathed for a second. Marjan looked at him, at the ring, her eyes soft and warm and then she pulled him into the shop.

The lady got the ring out and the moment he saw it in the flesh he knew it was the right one. He bought it immediately, it was packaged up and then they stood outside with it in a bag and Carlos just swallowed hard because this was now real. He was going to propose. He held the bag carefully, wondering how he was going to sneak it in the house and not let TK see it or find it. Marjan must have known what he was thinking, she’d been around him enough by now to realise when he was starting to panic a bit. “Why don’t I take it home,” she said gently. “TK will never see it and I’ll keep it safe and bring it in on the day. It’ll be one less thing for you to worry about at least.”

“Yeah, thank you,” he breathed and handed the bag over with shaky fingers. He was then pulled into a three way hug and if they all got a little misty eyed and emotional no one else would ever need to know.

Marjan held another TOP meeting during the next week, pleased that everyone was on track with their jobs and luckily TK seemed none the wiser that the entire 126 team had invited Carlos over every single day and were giggling and laughing behind his back. But as the week went on, Carlos realised there was something, some other people he wanted to talk to before he proposed the next week, something he wanted to pick up and have close. 

After they’d had dinner at home, and were cuddling on the sofa, he decided to mention it to TK, wanting him to know where he was going without lying too much. “I think I’m going to see my dad this week,” he said, letting his fingers trace random patterns over TK’s bare shoulders and arms. TK sat up a little, so he could cup Carlos’ cheek with gentle hands..

“Ok,” he said cautiously. “Are you sure, you know what he can be like. I hate seeing you get so worked up and hurt.”

“I’ll be fine, it’ll only be for a quick drink,” Carlos said and TK smiled at him. 

“Well, you know where I am if you need me to get the fire axe from the station and chase him down. Just give me a text and I’ll be there,” he said with a wink.

So the following day he sent his dad a text message and ended up driving after his shift to meet him at the family house. It wasn’t that his parents didn’t know or approve of his and TK’s relationship, rather that they still didn’t really talk about it and Carlos did not know how this conversation would go.

His dad was alone, his Mami had gone out shopping at the market, and Carlos couldn’t work out if that was a good thing or not. Sometimes his Mami seemed more open to talk about his life and choices, but other times she wouldn't bring it up. Maybe just talking to his dad would be better. When he arrived, his dad had iced tea and biscuits ready and they sat and made small talk for a while before Carlos was able to bring the reason for his visit up.

“Have you got Abuelo's rangers medal to hand?” he asked nervously.

“Why?” his dad sat back in his chair, cup resting on the table and surveyed his son with almost suspicious eyes.

“I’m going to ask TK to marry me, and I’d like to wear the medal when we get married,” Carlos said.

There was a silence, during which Carlos stared as his dad went first pale then red. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” he abruptly asked.

“What?” Carlos put his cup down and sat forward on the edge of his chair.

“I mean, TK’s got a lot of baggage, right? Why would you want to marry someone like him?”

Callum was hurt, more than he wanted to admit. “I love TK. He’s the best thing in my life and his past only makes him stronger. You know this, we’ve talked about it. We’ve been together for three years, Dad, he loves me too. I want to spend the rest of my life with him. You’ve never said anything like that before, I thought you liked him.”

“Yeah, well, I was thinking maybe you’d realise you could do better. You know, someone who's stable enough to start a family right now, someone who will support you, someone who won’t leave when things get tough.”

“We live together!” Carlos exclaimed, now starting to get incredibly angry. “And I don’t want any other man, only him.”

“I can’t be happy for you, Carlos. You’re settling. He’s no good for you.” his dad stood up, walked to the door and held it open. 

“I can’t believe you,” Carlos breathed out as he reached his dad and looked up at him with hurt eyes. “Think about it, Dad. If you can’t accept TK then we're through.”

“If that’s how it has to be, then that’s how it has to be,” his dad said flatly and he shut the door firmly behind Carlos

Carlos drove back towards his house almost in a daze, driving around aimlessly because he couldn’t face going home just yet. He couldn’t even talk to TK about what had happened because then he’d have to admit why he’d gone to see his dad in the first place. But he needed to speak to someone, to anyone, and in the end he called the person who knew the most about what was going on, someone he trusted almost as much as TK.

Marjan picked the phone up immediately and he could hear chatter in the background. “Hey, you!” she called down the phone. “How are you?”

“Are you busy? I can call you back?” he said, feeling awful for dragging her away from whatever she was doing.

The noise in the background died down and Carlos presumed she’d gone outside somewhere. “No, don’t be silly. I’m never too busy for you. What’s happened? What’s wrong?”

He told her what his dad had said and heard her exhale in a huff. “Your dad is a knob,” she said. “He’s the knobbiest knob around. Don’t listen to him. He knows nothing.”

“I’m not listening to him, I love TK and want to marry him. But he’s my family, my parents.. I wanted them to approve of my choice and to be there,” Carlos whispered, feeling the hurt across his chest.

Marjan took a deep breath. “I know it’s not the same but they’re not your only family, ‘Los. You have all of us, we’re your family. And TK. You’re starting a life with him. He wants you to be happy. Don’t let your dad make you sad. He’s not worth it.”

“I know, it’s just…”. Carlos trailed off and Marjan sighed.

“What are you going to tell TK when you get home and you’re like this?” she asked

“I really don’t know,” Carlos admitted.

TK was in the kitchen when he let himself in and he turned around with a smile that faded as he saw the look on Carlos’ face. He padded over the room to him and said nothing, just pulled Carlos into his arms and pressed a kiss to his shoulder. Carlos was always thankful for his boyfriend, but this was something else, something more and he’d never loved TK as much as he did at that moment.

He eventually pulled back and rested their foreheads together and TK just looked at him with soft understanding eyes and stroked the skin on his cheek. “Let me take you to bed,” was all he said and Carlos allowed him to make him forget the pain of the day in a much more pleasurable way.

It was the week of the proposal and Carlos was starting to get nervous. Marjan made him video call her when he was working, waving her TOP notebook in the air and demanding that he listen to what she’d got planned for the Thursday proposal at the station. He’d booked the day of the proposal off, even explaining to Emilia and his chief had been easier than he thought because they’d given him that all knowing look. It seemed that everyone knew that he and TK were made for each other and this was the logical next step forward. Right now, Emilia was driving the car, so he could prop the video up and she was giggling at how extreme Marjan’s plans were. Carlos was sure she would be different if it was her proposal Marjan had hijaked.

The rest of the 126 had been sorting things out all weekend and Carlos had to admit that the plans were sounding good. They were discussing how Mateo was going to drape the fairy lights he’d bought all over the tops of the trees without falling out of them and injuring himself and how Paul was going to set out the flowers to Marjan’s exact birds eye view of the garden when a dispatch report came through the police channel. Carlos held his hand up to Marjan whilst he took it. Grace’s well known voice came over the radio. “There’s been a domestic violence call in the downtown area,” she explained in a careful voice, knowing exactly how Carlos felt about those types of calls. “Potential gun involved. You’re the closest unit, please respond?”

Emilia switched on the sirens and Carlos turned back to Marjan. “Better go, I’ll catch up with you later?”

“Sure,” she said, quieter now. “Take care, though? Can’t have anything happening to you. I don’t know what your boy would be like if something did.”

“I’ll take care,” Carlos promised, but as he hung up he caught sight of the look on Emilia’s face. “What?”

“Nothing, but she’s right, you know. You need to be in one piece for the big proposal. Or else I think Marjan will hunt me down.”

They turned down onto the main highway through town when they hit an almighty traffic jam. Even with the sirens on, there was no way they were moving far or fast. Carlos pulled his phone out to check for another route. “It's damn roadworks, they’re taking up the whole road surface by the look of things. It’s not like we haven’t got places to be,” he huffed. Emilia hid a cough in her elbow before nudging him. 

“There, side street, where does that lead too?”

It seemed like every single person in Austin was out and clogging the roads as they tried to navigate their way around and the usually calm Emilia soon started to lose her temper, grumbling. “There surely had to be someone with better traffic conditions who could have attended? Why send us through this mess!”

“Grace said we were the closest.”

“I bet she didn’t look at traffic reports though,” Emilia sighed. “Damn it all, she’s spending more time planning your engagement party than looking at the best people to send on the jobs.”

“I didn’t ask her to,” Carlos protested.

“Just because you’re getting married doesn’t mean I have to listen to everyone talking about it,” she said, but she mellowed a little as she turned to face him. “So, come on, you’re the one who’s been quietest over this whole thing. What do you really think?”

“About the 126? I mean, I love they want to make this special for TK, but it's all gone a bit crazy right? They do talk about it constantly, I know that, but I don’t know how to tell them that they’ve gone overboard.”

“Yeah, they are scary sometimes,” Emilia agreed. “Plus they have access to all that fire equipment, they could easily take you out if you hurt TK. Or you know, you could just tell Marjan exactly where she could stick all of her ideas. Sometimes the best proposals are straight from the heart.”

“I….” Carlos started but paused, thinking of how similar that comment had been to some other recent conversations he’d had.

But before he could think too much, she’d carried on. “So, have you written your speech?”

“I tried to write something last night,” Carlos admitted, “and I couldn’t, I didn’t even know where to start.”

“But when you see him you’ll know,” Emilia said confidently. “You two are made for each other, it’s clear to every single one of us that know each of you. You make him happy and he makes you happy. Perfect formula for a happy life together. Of course, I thought that about my first husband, Kevin.”

“First husband?” Carlos ventured.

“Yeah, turned out we weren’t really compatible after all. We both liked men,” she said and Carlos had to turn to hide the smile that came onto his face.

They were still stuck in traffic and Emilia was getting more and more incensed when the radio crackled into life and Grace’s voice came across it. She sounded apologetic right from the start and Carlos guessed straight away what she was going to say.

“Reyes, status report,” was all she said.

“We’re stuck in traffic, only about three kilometres away from the station. It’s a bloody nightmare, Grace,” Emilia snapped.

“No real surprise,” Grace said softly. “There’s roadworks in your way, isn’t there? I’m so sorry to tell you this too, but we had another look at the officers nearby and there’s someone who’s closer and can get to them in much less time so we’re standing you down. You can return to the station.”

“Are you kidding me,” Emilia exclaimed and Carlos leaned over and laid a hand on her arm.

“It’s fine, Grace, thanks for letting us know,” he said.

“Thanks for understanding. Keep safe,” she said and then she switched the radio off and Carlos was left with a very annoyed Emilia.

“You know what,” she suddenly said, looking out the window at the tea shop they were nearby. “Been as we’ve been sent on a wild goose chase, let's get some tea and take it to your boy. The 126 station is close enough to where we are and I think we both deserve a break, don’t you?”

They grabbed boba tea for everyone at the 126, even if Carlos was surprised at her change of heart, but he wasn’t going to let an opportunity to see TK pass if he had the chance. Emilia drove to the 126 station whilst Carlos tried to balance ten cups of tea and not drop any of them, whilst trying to spend the extra time he had focusing on his speech for TK. When they pulled into the familiar 126 station, there was no one to be seen, no firefighters, no paramedics, no one around the engines. “Where is everyone?” Carlos asked, noticing the two engines and the ambulance were there so they weren’t out on a call at least.

“I bet they’re making the most of the sun whilst some of us have been trapped in a hot tin can,” Emilia complained as she kicked the tyre of the police car.

“You’re probably right,” Carlos said, “but if we head there now we can take a break before having to go back to work, right?” He was trying to be sympathetic, despite all the grumbling she’d been doing because he understood, it had been a frustrating morning but at least they had finished now and so they set off for the garden at the station together.

When they were almost there, Emilia patted her trousers down and a look of concern filtered over her face. “My phone,” she said, looking worried.

“You’ve probably left it in the police car, with all your moaning,” Carlos said and had to laugh at the affronted look on Emilia’s face.

“You’re probably right,” she said. “Look, you go on, I’ll pop back and grab it. See you in a bit,” and she trotted off back towards the police car.

Left alone, Carlos rolled his eyes once, out the tea onto the side and then pushed the door open to the garden and stepped through, trying to see where the 126 crew were hanging out so they could help him carry the cups of tea he’d been left with.

Instead, he ended up stopping dead still, just on the threshold of the garden, mouth dropping open and heart starting to pound in his chest.

Because the garden was full of candles, dotted around all over the place, on the walls, in between the flowers, lining the path, fairy lights twinkling around the trees, masses of flowers, roses, tulips and carnations all over the grass. And standing in the middle of the path, in full uniform and with a nervous look on his face, was TK.

“What…” he started but TK took a step forward towards him and held out a hand.

“Carlos,” he said, “when I met you, I was so lost. I didn’t think I deserved to love anyone ever again, I was broken and bruised and I hated myself so much. And then you walked into my life and changed how I felt about everything, how I felt about about myself. You showed me that I deserved love, that I was someone that could be loved and love someone else in return. I fell in love with you the minute you laughed at my bad jokes and I fall in love with you a little bit more every single time I see you. I love how you accept everything about me, and how you’ve never asked for anything of me in return. I love the way you smile, the way you talk to me and listen to me and validate every little thing I do and say and think. I love the way you protect me and keep me safe. I love the way you look at me, how you make me feel, how you love me unconditionally. And I love the way how every day now I see in colour, not grey. There's never going to be anyone else I’m going to want as much as I want you, every day, everywhere we go, even in the bar or the uniform cupboard here or the back of the fire engine or the toilets. But I don’t just want you like that, I want you in every single meaning of the word, I want to share the rest of my life with you.” He took a deep breath and Carlos had to blink the tears out of his eyes because he didn’t want to miss a second, particularly as TK had dropped to one knee and was holding out a black suede box in one hand. “So, Carlos Reyes, will you marry me?”

There was a silence over the garden as Carlos stared at the man in front of him and tried to grab hold of his rapidly departing self control and answer him. “TK,” he gasped. “Oh,Ty,” and he stumbled towards him.

“I take it that's a yes?” TK grinned as he got up and Carlos threw himself at him and finally got his arms around his shoulders.

“Yes, yes, yes,” he said, and he wasn’t ashamed of the tears running down his face or the ones matching on TK’s cheeks as he was pulled into a sweet kiss, wet from their tears but so meaningful.

They were startled out of the kiss by the loud noise of cheering and Carlos pulled back just enough to see, keeping his forehead pressed to TK and arms tight around him. The entire 126 team, including Nancy, Tommy and Owen, and Grace and Emilia, were running out of the building, confetti and streamers flying around in the air, music playing from Judd’s speakers, cheering and grinning and shouting as they surrounded them.

“Did he say yes?” Mateo shouted.

“Of course he did! Have you given him the ring yet?” Nancy called and Carlos turned back to his boyfriend - his fiancé - and raised an eyebrow. 

“My ring?” he asked.

TK fumbled the box from where he’d stashed it whilst hugging Carlos and reopened it up, revealing a beautiful white gold band with three diamonds in it. “There’s space for engraving, but I thought we could go together maybe?” he said as he held it out. “If you don’t like it or don’t want to wear it that’s fine…”

“Stop it,” Carlos breathed. “I love it. Best get it on quickly, so I can show everyone you’re mine.”

TK smiled at him and slid the ring on his finger, a perfect fit. Carlos raised his hand to look at it and TK took his fingers in his hand and raised it to his lips, kissing the cold metal gently.

Carlos pulled him back in for a proper kiss and it was only when he’d released him that he started to actually think. “I was going to propose this week,” he said slowly, gazing around at where they were standing and the other members of the 126 team at the station, plus his partner and Grace.

TK actually looked a little sheepish, “yeah, I know,” he admitted. “I knew about it all.”

“But…” Carlos stammered looking around at the beaming idiots he was friends with. “What about the secret?”

“Well, TK did tell us about a month ago that he was going to propose and he works here with us so we had to help him,” Nancy protested.

“TK’s outrageous proposal meant both for you and for him,” Paul grinned.

“And the notebook was full of the ideas and plans we had, but didn’t you wonder why I was so interested in your favourite things? And why your ring is the perfect fit? I can’t believe we got away with it actually,” Marjan sounded so proud of herself even as Carlos glared at her. 

“The job today,” he said slowly as even more things started to drop into place.

Emilia smiled guiltily. “All made up, Carlos, Grace was in on it too. We needed to get you out and here without too much suspicion. It was the chief’s idea, actually.”

“And that's why were all here too,” Owen added. “I set this bit up, explained to the commissioner and then called in a favour from Bobby at the next station. We’re not on the rota for calls this afternoon, so there would be no way to disrupt this.”

“And then I just had to get you to go to somewhere where there was so much traffic we could pretend you weren’t actually needed,” Grace added with a wide smile.

“I act pretty good, eh,” Emilia put in with a shove to Carlos’ shoulder and a big grin.

Carlos shook his head a little and then turned back to TK. “I had a ring and everything,” he said quietly.

“And I have it here!” Marjan said, thrusting the little bag at him. “Why else do you think I volunteered to look after it for you?”

Carlos said nothing, too stunned to talk, but he took the bag and reached inside it, pulling out not just his ring box, but another, familiar box too. “What’s this?” he almost whispered to TK.

“Well…. I knew you’d want your Abuelo’s rangers medal, so I went to ask your parents for it, and, I guess I was asking them if it was ok to marry you. I did it a few weekends ago, when you were at your strategy meeting at Marjan’s, when I said I was meeting my parents. We met at a coffee shop. They were great, so pleased for you, gave me this straight away. But then I didn’t factor in that you would want to speak to your dad so when you said you were going I panicked and called him and begged him not to say anything to you. Of course, I wasn’t expecting him to say what he did…”

“Great actor though,” Mateo said with an almost awed grin.

“TK was ready to break into the station, grab the largest axe he could find and go and show him exactly what he’d do to anyone that hurt you,” Judd put in, rather unhelpfully.

“They were all with me when you rang Marj,” TK admitted. “And I wasn’t going to hurt him… because they’re your parents. I spoke to your dad after and he explained everything, they want us to go and celebrate over the weekend and he wants to explain to you properly.”

“Fuck,” Carlos said, completely overwhelmed and TK pulled him in for a tight hug. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered into his shoulder.

“No, don’t be, it’s sweet and lovely and I love you. But I didn’t expect any of it,” Carlos murmured.

“I know,” now TK sounded smug. “That’s why I wanted to surprise you. You deserve all the nice things, babe, and I want you to see that.”

There was a silence whilst Carlos processed that and then he grabbed the box with TK’s ring in and opened it up slowly. “My speech won’t be as good as yours, I haven’t had any time to think about it properly,” he said slowly. “But you are everything to me, TK Strand. When I met you I didn’t think I would ever find anyone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, I was sure what I was and what I wanted was wrong, that was all I’d ever been made to think by my family. You showed me different and you’ve always been there for me. You saw me when no one else did and you believe in me. I love you so much. I love how brave you are, I love how you make me think every single day, I love how you make me laugh, even with your awful fireman jokes, and I love how sexy you are in that uniform. I want to spend every single day of my life with you and no one else. So will you marry me too?”

TK smiled at him, full of love and sunshine and just plain wonderfulness. “Of course I will,” he beamed as he gazed at Carlos and then at the ring before him. He held out his hand and glowed as Carlos slid his ring on too and repeated the earlier gesture by kissing the metal band tenderly.

There was a party after that, food and music that Carlos recognised from the TOP meetings with a wry smile, but TK pulled him into a little alcove and sat him down before nestling in close. Carlos pulled him properly into his lap and held him close, face pressed into his hair and breathing evenly. TK let him for a while, fingers skating over his shoulders, before leaning backwards so he could look in his eyes. “Are you sure everything’s OK?” he asked nervously.

“Everything is great, fiancé,” Carlos grinned, taking TK’s lips in a gentle kiss. “Even if you stole my secret and my team, every little thing is perfect and we’re engaged. I’m the happiest man in the world.”

“I do have one thing though,” TK said with a smile, fingers stroking Carlos’ cheek gently. “We plan the wedding ourselves and we don’t let Marjan and the rest of these idiots get involved at all. We can invite them but they’ve already told me some of their plans. Tommy wants to marry us, Nancy wants to plan your stag night and Judd and Emilia want to drive us there in your cruiser and my fire engine with blue lights.”

Carlos laughed and nuzzled TK’s nose fondly. “We could just elope,” he suggested. “I’ve heard Las Vegas is beautiful in the summer…”


End file.
